CK2

CK2 by Calvin Klein is one of the most tragic discontinuations and is also the first fragrance i ever bought in panic after its cancellation was rumored in the fragcom, and is also one of the most treasured fragrances in my collection, not only because it's an absolute banger and a very unique and (perhaps formerly, depending on when you're reading this) affordable designer perfume, but also because of some significance it holds to me and my development. see, CK One was my signature fragrance when i was young. like, 4 years old young. actually, it wasn't CK One, it was U by Designer Imposters because at that point (1999, for reference) i don't think CK One had reached it's bargain basement cheapie price yet and my working-class single mother would probably rather not buy a designer fragrance for a grubby toddler because she's a sensible woman. i loved that god damn bottle of synthetic trash. it smelled GREAT. i took it everywhere in my powerpuff girls backpack and i sprayed it on every day before i went to my pre-school and it made me feel VERY cool and grown up. perhaps that it's due to this memory that CK One still has a deeply beloved place in my heart. this of course makes CK2 the sequel to something that was incredibly important to me as a child. it could turn out to be a Kingdom Hearts 3 situation where sequel was actually good enough to justify the wait and the potential putting-off of your established audience from back in the day, or it could be an Incredibles 2 and be a heartless ploy to snatch money from the wallets of nostalgic and now-employed millenials that sucks out loud. it isn't tho! CK2 is, thankfully, a fresh fragrance in a way that not many other freshies dare to be fresh. it smells like an arboretum after it's rained in the spring: green, floral, a touch woody, and very, very damp. refreshingly damp! the ozonic wet stone note reminds me of the life-giving rains of spring, and also (as a former South Coast resident) the relief of a hurricane having rolled over without putting a tree in your roof. it's a relaxing and uplifting scent through and through. other big players here are violet leaf, which adds some bright fresh greenness, and wasabi, which adds some peppery fresh greenness. the vetiver adds a bit of woodiness to make the fragrance more "sturdy" i suppose, it's already quite light and i can only imagine it'd be only half the strength it is now without it. it's woody and pleasant and does not lean this fragrance in a masculine direction which is what i tend to think when i hear "vetiver." the florals are here and you CAN smell them (unlike the alleged incense note which is AWOL from the start to the end of CK2's duration) but i could not pick one of them out if i tried, they all sort of blend together, much like thescent of a rained-on flowerbed. the mandarin and pear add the obligatory citrus/fruit pop at the start of the fragrance but don't really hang out for long, the mandarin might add a TOUCH of sweetness past the opening but that's it. i'm not gonna even bother doing bullet points for the boring review stuff like usual because there's not much to say: it performs okay for a fragrance in it's style for about 4 to 5 hours, it's perfectly unisex but if you're a guy and flowers terrify you you might say it leans feminine, and pricing is/was good. i got a 100ml for 30 bucks, and prices still seem decent provided you can find a bottle. i'm currently looking for a jumbo just so i never run out. this is, like most freshies, a summer/spring daytime fragrance but i can see wearing it in winter for a blast of cold watery goodness. The Point Of All This is that CK2 is the Kingdom Hearts 3 of fragrances and is a very unisex walk through a soaking-wet botanical garden in full bloom. it is probably the finest of all of the Calvin Klein unisex fragrances in my opinion and it's discontinuation should qualify as a hate crime towards me and me alone. it would have been nice to actually smell that incense tho. 9 long-awaited sequels to 90's children's media/10 - 博

I've revisited this one since last summer and must say again kudos to Calvin Klein & perfumer Pascal Gaurin! I love this fragrance, admittedly it won't be for everyone as it's quite floral (rose) and full of modern synthetic notes, it does however smell fantastic! Paradoxically even though it's synthetic I'm instantly reminded of the smell of rain on sun-warmed flowers and plants (and on stones!), or of the special scent you get inside a florist's shop, that watery aroma of the cut flowers and the unmistakable odour of fresh roses in bloom. Add to this an underlying lightly salty yet somehow sweet scent which for me recalls a day at the beach on the Mediterranean, sun drying the sea water on sunscreen sweetened skin. It's a relaxing, musky but non cloying scent, kind of an oddity in the designer realm with a unique 'water cooler' presentation. I wonder will this go the way of 'Crave' and be almost completely forgotten or will it become a cult classic/unicorn fetching silly money in a few years time? In any case I'm glad I have it in my collection as it's a little beauty. Edit: 30/06/19 - I wore this to a wedding yesterday at a magnifique Chateau during this intense heatwave (38 degrees Celsius) in France , sprayed on (5 sprays) including one on my shirt and two underneath. I had a nice refreshing sillage for the whole day, beautiful. More than 24 hours later I could still smell it on my shirt (just before doing the laundry). Absolute gem of a scent, simply perfect, it will forever be one of my favourites, for me to wear but also to smell on the lovely ladies.

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said here before! My 2¢: It doesn't seem unique at first sniff (I was almost let down when I tried my sample at home because I thought I had a mix-up at the store). But once it dries down CK2 becomes fresh and clean. To me, it's a VERY wearable, unisex, and modern. I think it's a light fragrance ideal for everyday wear and sits well on the skin. Perfect for offices and when you want a hint of something rather than a blast. Totally get the minerally smell that is like river rocks. It adds an unusual sophistication! UPDATE: Apparently this is being discontinued which is a true shame. There are a bunch of reviewers who think this means CK2's popularity is forced, due to perceived rarity. Not so! It's a unique spin on this type of scent. There is no laundry, soap, or kitchen cleaner aspect. It is very unlike many perfumes in that regard, as they often express cleanliness as those things. After owning this one a few months, I am struck but how hard it is to find something similar. I will say, however, there is a passing resemblance to L'Artisan Parfumeur Amour Nocturne. It doesn't have the same sweetness or warmth, but there is an echo of the gunpowder note that must be from the pebbles interacting with something.

This reminds me of Reveal which I LOVE! This is a little more clean, like it should be day wear and Reveal, evening wear. I don't even care what these smell like ON me I love them so much! I like to please others, and often will wear something to pleasantly accompany a companion or surrounding area. Not this time! Plug your nose if ya gotta! I passed this up several times at T.J. Maxx....just like Reveal. I'll never learn! I'm going to get in a swap though, so I'm happy...AND will purchase another one if I run into it for 20.00 again! These scents to me, are like...I wanna smell like HER. WHY does she smell SO good? It's a brand new home smell...by a cool water hitting the hot dry air breeze. SO excited to wear this along with my Reveal. This is a scent to share with a partner also. I'd love smelling it on a man. Except...I can't if I wear it myself! Too bad for me! Got my bottle in a trade. I just can't say in words how addicted to this I am. Pebbles seem to be first on the list of what others smell. Well, me too but, it's the smell of pebbles in a perfect dream, only saltier. I may see about putting a box in an outside area like Goodwill does for used clothing, only I will be collecting disliked bottles of this!

Fragrance as pop art. Instead of trying to hide its artificiality, CK2 embraces it. Imagine a child's drawing of a cosmos bloom, scrawled in bright red crayon; that's CK2. Reading reviews, I expected something cold and sterile; that's not what I get from this at all. I pick up on the wet pebble quality that comes up so frequently, but to me this is more of a warm summer drizzle than an icy downpour. The florals are by far the most dominant note to my nose, a blast of vivid pink-ish red that softens over time. There's just a hint of sex to it. Its use of wasabi in the opening is so unique, too; so many fragrances open with spice, but there's a dry quality to the wasabi that's several steps removed from anything I've encountered before. Really, that typifies CK2 for me; lots of familiar elements that are just a few degrees off of what you expected, rendering the whole thing alien. It's like someone 800 years from now, on a distant planet with no access to Earth materials, tried to recreate your typical fragrance of today with only a tattered notes chart as reference. The end result is surprisingly close to the mark, but it's clear the individual components are not of this world.